1983 United Kingdom general election

election for members of the British House of Commons

A general election was held on 9 June 1983 to elect all 650 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party won by the largest majority since Labour in the 1945 general election. It meant that Margaret Thatcher stayed as Prime Minister.[1]

1983 United Kingdom general election

← 1979 9 June 1983 1987 →
← List of MPs elected in the 1979 United Kingdom general election
List of MPs elected in the 1983 United Kingdom general election →

All 650 seats in the House of Commons
326 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout72.7%, Decrease3.3%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Margaret Thatcher Michael Foot
Party Conservative Labour Alliance
Leader's seat Finchley Blaenau Gwent
Last election 339 seats, 43.9% 269 seats, 36.9% 11 seats, 13.8%[a]
Seats before 339 261 11
Seats won 397 209 23
Seat change Increase58[b] Decrease60[b] Increase12[b]
Popular vote 13,012,316 8,456,934 7,780,949
Percentage 42.4% 27.6% 25.4%
Swing Decrease1.5% Decrease9.3% Increase11.6%

Colours show the winning party—as shown in § Results

Composition of the House of Commons after the election

Prime Minister before election

Margaret Thatcher
Conservative

Prime Minister after election

Margaret Thatcher
Conservative

  1. Results for the Liberals only. The SDP did not contest
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Includes boundary change—so this is a nominal figure.

References

change
  1. 1983: Thatcher triumphs again, BBC News, 5 April 2005, retrieved 22 March 2015